Temperature measuring instrument



Sept. 26, 1944. Q MQQRE 2,359,141

TEMPERATURE MEASURING INSTRUMENT Filed Dec. 9, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet l FIG. I.

INVENTOR COLEMAN B. MOORE avq mm ATTORNEYS Sept. 26, 1944. c. B. MOORE 2,359,141

TEMPERAQ'URE MEASURING INSTRUMENT Filed Dec. 9, 1939 2 Sheets-Shet 2 2 v FIG.3.

lNVENTOR COLEMAN B. MOORE BY ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 26, 1944 TEMPERATURE MEASURING INSTRUMENT Coleman B. Moore, Carroll Park, Pa., asslgnor to The Brown Instrument Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application December 9, 1939, Serial No. 308,434

GC'lalms.

The present invention relates to industrial thermometers and more particularly to those in which the temperature responsive element is' located at a distance fromthe recording and/or controlling mechanism.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording thermometer which is accurate and one in which the accuracy will be maintained under conditions of rough treatment.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a recording instrument in which a casing .is provided to protect the recording mechanism and in which the recording mechanism is mounted for limited movement relative to the casing. This movement is provided by a shock-absorbing mounting that is of such a nature that a slight warping or misalignment of the case will have no effect on the recording mechanism.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide a distant type thermometer with a compensating means which will prevent an incorrect recording of the temperature as a result of changes in ambient temperatures.

The various features of novelty which characterize my invention are pointed out with par-' ticularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification. For a better understanding of the invention, however, its advantages and specific objects obtained with its use, reference should be had to the accompany- Fig. 5 is an enlarged front view of the pen arm supporting and adjusting mechanism;

Fig. 6 is a view looking from the left in Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is a side view of the double spiral arrangement.

Referring first to Fig. 1 there is showna casmg l of rectangular shape which is open at the front and is provided with ledges 2 and 3 at the top and bottom of the opening. Pins 4 and 5 are driven through corners'oi these ledges to support a door 6 which serves to close the casing and which is provided with a gasket I that serves, when the door is closed, to make the casing dust tight and moisture tight. This door is provided with a window 8 through which may be seen the chart and the pen by which the and II and a third point, the latter of which is' shown in Fig. 3 and is at the bottom of the plate and midway between vertical lines drawn from points i2 and II. Each of the points of attach ment is made by a screw N (Fig. 3) which car-- tends through a hole in the plate II and is threaded into a boss i5v projecting from the surface of the casing. On each side of the plate Ii is a heavy washer ii of resilient material that is placed under a predetermined tension which is regulated by the length of a sleeve I5 surrounding the screw H. With this construction the plate ii may move slightly relative to the casing when the latter is subjectedto vibration. Also if the casing is slightly warped, when, for example, it is rigidly mounted against a surface that is not quite flat the washers It will give so that the plate II will remain flat and will therefore prevent a misalignment of the elements mounted thereon.

A chart I! is provided upon which a record of the temperature measured may be made. This chart is provided with openings through which a pin I8 for centering the chart and a pin is for driving the chart may extend. The chart is rotated by some suitable clock mechanism at any desired rate, preferably once every twentyfour hours. In order to back up the chart while a record is being made there is provided a plate 20 that is supported on four posts 2|, 22, 23 and 24. The two upper posts 2i and 22 are rigid and are fastened to the plate II and extend forwardly therefrom. Each of these posts is provided with an enlarged head and a reduced neck.

that is received in openings provided in the plate 20. The two lower posts 23 and 24 are each rigidly attached to the plate ii and are each made from a stiff but resilient material. In mounting the plate 20 in position the upper openings are placed over the posts 2i and 22 and the lower end of the plate is thenpushed toward the posts 23 and 24. These latter posts will give enough so that heads provided on their ends will move through openings in the lower part of the plate. The ends of the posts 23 and 24 will then move downwardly to hold the plate in necks provided Just back of the heads. In order to remove the plate 20 it is only necessary to force the outer ends of posts-23 and 24 upwardly so that the plate can be moved outwardly therefrom, then lift the plate from pins 2| and 22.

Attached to the chart plate 23 is a pen lifting device 25 that is used to raise the pens from the chart while it is being changed. Forming part of the bracket for the pen lifter is a pointer 26 that is used to help the attendant set the chart properly for the time of day at which the chart is started.

The actuating elements of the present invention are mounted on the sub-plate II in a novel manner and are connected to the pen by means of an entirely new type of connecting link. There is shown in Fig. l the general relation of the various parts to each other, and more specifically in Figs. 2 and 3 the manner in which they are constructed. The measuring system as a whole comprises a bulb 21 filled with some type of temperature sensitive fluid, depending upon the use and range of the instrument, that is connected to a spiral Bourdon tube 23 by means of a capillary tube 23. The bulb 21 is placed at the point the temperature of which is to be measured and the spiral is mounted on the plate 'I I. Attached to the inner end of the spiral tube 23 is a bimetallic element 33 that in shape forms a continuation of the tube. A bracket 3| is fastened at one end to the element 33 and at its other end to a support 32 having an arm 33 extending outwardly therefrom (see 54 in F 7).

- This support is attached by a screw 34 to the In adjusting the instrument the screw plate ll. 34 is loosened and the arm 33 is grasped torotate the spiral to its proper position, after which the screw is tightened to hold the spiral rigidly in place.

The capillary tube 23 connects to the inner endof spiral 23 and upon expansion or contraction bimetallic element 33, or the capillary may be formed as a coil just before its point of attachment to the spiral. Moved by the end oi: the spiral is a bracket 35 that is attached thereto in any suitable manner. This bracket is provided with wings 36 in which a screw adjusting member 31 is journaled. A U-shaped slider member 33 is provided with ends that engage the threads of the screw 31 and may be moved along the bracket 35 for calibration purposes. The further the slider 33 is from the center of the spiral 28 the larger are it will be moved through for a given deflection or the spiral. Therefore the position of the slider determines the 'amount of pen movement for a given temperature change. A connecting link 33, shown best in Fig. 4, is

attached at one end to the slider 33 and at its other end to an arm 13 attached to a pivoted shaft 40. The link 33 is formed of a continuous length of spring wire and has formed between its ends a helical spring section 4| that is wound with initial tension so that under normal conditions this spring section will have no action of its own. The link 33 also acts as a safety device or over-load release since, as shown diagrammatically in dotted lines in Fig. 4, if the pen is held stationary as the actuating element moves clockwise the spring section 4| will expand as shown at a. If on the other hand the actuating element rotates counter-clockwise the spring of the spiral and protection for the spiral upon accidental movement of the pen with an absolute minimum of parts.

The shaft 43 upon which the, arm 13 is mounted is journaled at each end in a yoke shaped member 42 that is secured to the front of plate II. This forms a very rigid support for the shaft with a corresponding accuracy of movement of the pen. A second arm 43 is attached to the shaft 43 and supports on its lower end the pen arm 44 and pen 52. and arm 43 are curved in such a manner that for zero position of the pen the arms will not be obstructed in their movement by a second shaft that is used to support a second pen and pen arm, to be described below. A shield 12 is attached to and near the front of yoke 42 directly above plate 23 to hide the connecting larged portion of the slot 45. The connection 7 between slot 45 and screw 43 forms a pivot point around which the pen arm may be given minute adjustments to'correct' it for its zero position. This adjustment is obtained by means of a raised portion in the shape of a rib 41 on the pen arm that is received by a neck formed in a screw member 43 which is journaled in wings 43 and 53 on the arm 43. The screw has a threaded con nection with wing 43 and as it is rotated its neck portion will move the pen arm around its pivot formed by screw 43. A spring 5| is provided to take up any play between the threaded connection and to prevent accidental rotation of the screw 43.

With this type of connection the screw 43 may be loosened and the pen arm moved downwardly to remove it when the pen is to be cleaned. Upon replacement of the pen arm it will be returned exactly to its original positionby the camming action of the conical head of screw 46 as the screw is tightened. A pen 52,0! any suitable type is attached to the lower end of the pen arm in order to make a record of the temperature of bulb 21 on the chart I1.

From the above description it will be seen that as the temperature to which bulb 21 is subjected changes, the pressure in the system, consisting of the bulb 21, capillary 23.and spiral 23, will change correspondingly. Upon an increase in .temperature the spiral will tend to unwind. to

- is lowered with respect to the temperature of the bulb the spiral 28 will tend to wind up and move arm 35 in a clockwise direction but the bimetallic element 33 isso formed that for the same temperature change it will tend to straighten out and to move the entire spiral counter-clockwise an equal amount. In this manner changes in the ambient temperature to which the casing is sub- It should be noted that both arm 13 jected are compensated for in such a manner that the pen will be positioned on the chart in exact accordance with the temperature to which the bulb 21 is subjected and .there will be no erroneous reading due tochanges in thecase temperature.

Because of the adjustment provided for the spiral, the link 39 and the pen arm 43, the instrument can be so calibrated that it will read ac- 'curately for various ranges ,of temperature through which the bulb 21 is to be subjected and may also be adjusted to give an accurate reading in spite of various small production tolerances that may occur in the different parts making up the recording system.

Located at the right of the instrument casing l is a second measuring system thatdiflers from the one just described in type of compensation that is used to prevent an incorrect record being made due to changes in ambient temperature.

The bimetallic element 30 in the system just described provides what is known as "case-com- 'pensation" and is used where the length of capillary'tubing between the bulb and spiral is'fairly short. Where the length of capillary tubing is long temperature changes along the tubing may cause errors in the record made. To compensate for such inaccuracies a double spiral arrangement that will give .capillary compensation is used. This system will now be described.

A spiral Bourdon tube 53 is attached at its outer end-to a bracket 54 that is in turn attached to a support 55 having an arm l. The support is mounted on the subplate H by a screw 51 in a manner similar to that in-which the support 32 is mounted thereon. .Therefore as the spiral 53 winds and unwinds its inner end will move counter-clockwise and clockwise in Fig. 2. A

second spiral Bourdon tube 58, identical to the spiral 53, is mounted for movement with the inner end ofthe spiral 53 by having a rigid connecting piece 59 attached to the inner ends of each of the spirals. The outer end of spiral 58 has a bracket 60, similar in general construction to bracket 35, attached to its outer end. This bracket is connected by a second link 39 to the outer end of an arm 6| that is attached to a shaft 62, that is also journaled in the yoke 42. An arm 63, to which is attached a pen arm. by means of a screw 65, is also fastened to the shaft 62 for movement therewith. Every movement of the outer end of spiral it will therefore move the pen arm 64 so that a pen 66 attached to the lower end thereof will make a record on the chart H.

The pen arm 64 has the same adjustments with respect to arm 63 that pen arm 44 has with respect to arm 43.

It should be noted that the shafts l0 and 82 are so located that a line drawn through their centers will pass through the point of the chart engaged by the writing tip of pen 66 when the latter is midway between its zero and full scale position. The time lines 61 on the chart are drawn as the arc of a circle around shaft 62 and have a radius equal to the distance from the center of shaft 62 to the writing tip of pen 66.

'Because of this arrangement the pens will accurately record the value of the temperature being measured on a scale concentric with the chart and the time that the record was made by pen 66 will be shown. In multiple pen instruments the writing tips of the pens are placed close together so that the time that a certain temperature is recorded on the chart bypen it will be displaced with respect to a record made tant when compared with the accuracy with which the pens are adjusted across the value lines on the chart. The spiral 58 is known as the measuring spiral and is connected by a capillary tube 68 with the interior. of a temperature sensitive bulb 69. Therefore any changes in temperature to which the bulb 89 is subjected will cause expansion or contraction of the spiral 58. The spiral 53 is known as a compensating spiral and is connected to a capillary tube 10 which runs parallel to tube 68, but is closed off at the bulb 69. Therefore ambient temperature changes that occur along the capillary tubes and in the casing cause expansion and contraction of the spiral 53.

In the operation of this type of measuring system a change in temperature along the capillary tubes will cause the inner end of spiral 53- to move and, because of connection 59, the spiral 58 will be bodily moved therewith. The same change in temperature will cause the outer end of spiral 58 to move an equal amount, but in an opposite direction so that the net effect is to keep bracket 60 stationary. Looking at Fig. 2 it will be seen that this is true since upon an increase in temperature the inner'end of the lower spiral 53 will move in a clockwise direction carrying the upper spiral 58 clockwise withit. The

.same temperature increase will cause the outer end of the upper spiral 58 to move an equal distance in a counter-clockwise direction so that in effect bracket 60 does not move. Any change in the temperature of; the bulb 69, however, will only allect the spiral 58 so that movement of the bracket 60 is a true measurement of the temperature of the bulb 69. Since the spiral 58 is bodily moved the capillary 68 leading thereto has a coil H .of sufficient length formed in it to prevent any bending forces that may be set up in it from having any effect on the movement of the Patent is:

- While in accordance with the provisions of the statutes, I have illustrated and described the bestform of my invention now known to me, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes may be made in the form of the appar-atus disclosed without departing from the spirit of my invention as set forth in the appended claims, and that in some cases certain features of my invention may sometimes be used to advantage without a corresponding use of other features.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters l I i i 1. In a measuring instrument the combination of a casing, actuating elements and an exhibiting element operated by said actuating elements located in said casing. the actuating elements,

comprising a support attached to the casing, a bimetallic strip attached to said support, a spiral Bourdon tube, one end of said tube attached to said strip and being supported solely thereby and the other end thereof connected to the exhibiting element.

2. In a measuring instrument the combination of a casing, actuating elements located in said casing comprising a spiral Bourdon tube connected at one end with a temperature responsive bulb and at the other endwith recording mechanism, a curved bimetallic member attached to the end of the spiral that is connected with the temperature responsive bulb and acting as the sole support for the same and means to mount said bimetallic member in said casing.

3. In a measuring instrument the combination of a @casing, a recording element located therein, actuating elements adapted to actuate said recording element comprising a first spirallBourdon tube attached at its outer end to the casin a second similar spiral Bourdon tube connected at its inner end to the inner end of the first said tube, the connection being such that the tubes are concentric, and means connecting the outer end of said'second tube to said recording element.

4. In a measuring instrument the combination of a casing, actuating elements located therein comprising a first spiral Bourdon tube attached to said casing at its outer end, a capillary tube also attached to said encl, a bracket attached to the inner end of said spiral, a second similar end of said second spiral to said recording means.

5. In a measuring instrument the combination of a casing, actuating elements located therein comprising a pair of parallel, concentric spiral Bourdon tubes fastened together with one lying above the other and supported solely thereby, a capillary tube connected to one spiral, a capillary tube having a temperature responsive element the eon connected to the other spiral, means connecting one of said tubes to said casing and means connecting the other of said tubes to a recording mechanism. I

6. In a measuring instrument, the combination of a casing having a back wall, a supporting plate resiliently mounted to the back wall of said casing, an actuating element responsive to variations in the value of a condition adjustably mounted on said supporting plate, a pivoted shaft, bearing means for said shaft rigidly attached to said plate, recording means attached to said shaft for movement thereby, and connecting means between said actuating element and said shaft whereby the latter may be moved by the former to operate said recording means.

COLEMAN B. MOORE. 

